Sales of Nissan sedans have dropped drastically around the globe.
Nissan Motor has been having a tough time the last few years with their product lineup. As car buyers around the world move towards hatchbacks, SUV’s and pickup trucks, the humble sedan is slowly getting less attractive in all vehicle showrooms.
There was a time when Nissan, like many other car manufacturers had a range of sedans ready for buyers. Remember the Nissan Sylphy, Nissan Latio and Nissan Teana which were very popular sedans on sale in Malaysia. They were all retired slowly over the last decade and only the Nissan Almera remains the only sedan on sale today.
Nissan Japan has just shared news that the Skyline sedan production will come to an end as Nissan struggles to keep up with rivals in the race to provide stylish new SUV’s in all segments. Most of you will relate the Skyline nameplate to the iconic supercar the Skyline GTR, however the Skyline name has been used on Nissan sedans from as far back as 1957. Yes, back then the company was called ‘Prince Motor Company’ (before that it was called Fuji Precision Machinery), even before the name Datsun was born.
The very first Skyline was launched in April 1957 and it was powered by a 1.5-liter engine good for 60hp. But is was the 1969 Skyline GT-R sedan that put the brand on the world automotive map. A 2.0-liter DOHC engine good for 160bhp gave it power to challenge the European sports car and by 1971 a coupe arrived and took the car craze world by storm when this GT-R won a total of 83 touring races.
In July 2019 the last edition of the Skyline sedan was launched with a GT-R looking nose treatment. It carried a simple 3.0-liter twin turbocharged V6 engine that produced 306PS.
Today the older GT-R cars are rising in value and even the R33 used prices are rising faster than Porsche 911 air-cooled prices.
In 2002, Nissan suspended the production of the iconic Skyline GT-R. In the following year, however, then former Nissan President Carlos Ghosn announced a plan to revive this iconic car and name. It was reincarnated as the Nissan GT-R high-performance sports car in 2007, but without carrying the iconic Skyline badge.
Despite the huge Skyline’s fan base, where there is even a Skyline museum in Nagano Prefecture, demand for the model has plunged in recent years as consumers shift to SUVs.
Meanwhile, as the Nissan management act on the decision to stop producing sedans, including their super luxurious Nissan Fuga and Nissan CIMA, the Skyline name might be revived as a SUV in the next few years.
